Paris (AFP)

Paris SG without being brilliant took the lead of Ligue 1 in Angers (1-0), Saturday three days after his coronation in the Champions Trophy against OM who collapsed 2-1 at home against Nîmes, ex - red lantern on the rebound.

The Lyonnais will have the opportunity to return to PSG on condition of beating Metz on Sunday (9 p.m.) at the end of the 20th day.

Lille will be able to return to the level of the Parisians if it beats Reims at home.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino, distant from Raymond-Kopa by a positive Covid-19 test, had aligned an ambitious line of attack with Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Angel di Maria and Moise Kean, with the hope of renewing the fire of artifice of the first leg (6-1).

However, the performance of the Parisians often looked like a wet firecracker in the rain of Angers, where the attempts of Mbappé (22nd, 48th, 55th) and Neymar (26th), holder for the first time in a month, failed.

The vice-champions of Europe could even have sunk without the reflex stop of their guardian angel Keylor Navas in front of Loïs Diony, author of a close-range header (52nd) that the Costa Rican goalkeeper dismissed with his foot.

The Parisian victory came from a center of Alessandro Florenzi countered by the defense of the SCO but that Layvin Kurzawa was able to exploit with a direct recovery (70th) at the far post which hit home.

- Marseilles shipwreck -

The Marseille rival lived a dark Saturday in his Vélodrome behind closed doors: injury to Boubacar Kamara (thigh) and penalty missed by Florian Thauvin then, in the second half, express double from Swedish winger Niclas Eliasson (55th, 58th) who had never scored in Ligue 1 before.

"The least we can do is run, fight on the ground, today we did nothing", railed on Téléfoot defender Alvaro Gonzalez, calling for "more ambition" and "respect for the Marseille jersey".

"Miserable match", summed up coach André Villas-Boas by saying "sorry to the supporters. It's a very heavy defeat, a series of points lost, that's a lot".

Sixth in the standings, OM is indeed going through a terrible pass with only one point grappled against the two relegated Dijon (0-0 last weekend) and Nîmes.

He will have to improve his two late matches, Wednesday against Lens and February 17 against Nice, so as not to lose sight of Europe.

Conversely, the Nîmes "Crocodiles" breathe a little better.

They who had won only one of their last 13 matches doubled in the Lorient (20th) and Dijon (19th) standings, whose opposition, initially scheduled for Sunday, was postponed due to a wave of Covid contamination. 19 among the Bretons.

"We will remain humble but it can be a trigger, of course," said the Gard coach Jérôme Arpinon.

Clumsy at close range (36th), Argentinian center-forward Dario Benedetto softened the score for OM a little in the last minutes (85th) of a part where the Spanish right-back Pol Lirola, loaned Tuesday by Fiorentina , offered good prospects for his first tenure.

Rennes, one point ahead, can distance itself from Marseille on Sunday on the Brest field.

© 2021 AFP